Kuro Tora
by Tearainy
Summary: Kagome finds an injured animal in the well house, and whats this? It comes from the feudal era? And even more amazing it can travel through time as well. What will Kagome do with her new freind and companion the Black tiger? Sorry bad summary. Plz read it
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer- I do not own inuyasha

Kuro Tora

Chapter 1

It was dark inside the well house when she landed, and she could not even see past her own feet. All she could hear was her own breathing and that of whatever was in here too.

Her heart pounded loudly as she tentatively said, " Hello? ".

Her answer was a pained growl.

The young miko's eyes widened and she gasped. Whatever it was, it was in deep pain, and its breathing was ragged.

Slowly, she climbed out of the well and came out.

'Could it be a youkai that somehow got through the well?' She briefly wondered as she followed the sound of the painful huffs of breath to a dark corner, where she found a wounded animal.

She only fought against her common sense and instinct to flee for a while, before tenderly picking it up best as she could, since it was almost bigger than her. It didn't fight her, and allowed itself to be picked up.

If it could stand right now, it looked like it would reach up to her hips. She grunted at the heavy weight of the animal as she lifted it over her shoulder.

From what she could feel of the animal, it was injured very badly, and just after running her hand once through its soft fur, it came out wet with blood.

Sometime while she had been searching for it, it had fallen unconscious. She dragged and carried it out of the well house and into her house, where she called to her mother for help.

"Mama, mama, come quick! I found something in the well house!" her mother rushed down the stairs, worried at her daughter's tone of voice.

"Welcome back, dear, how was-" She took one look at her blood-covered daughter carrying something bleeding over her shoulder and immediately turned from care-free to serious.

"Come, bring it into the kitchen," Kagome's mother took the other side of the animal and they carried it into the kitchen.

"I found it in the well house right after I came back, and I just couldn't leave it there injured, right?" Kagome explained as they gently set down the animal on the kitchen floor.

Mama Higurashi sighed, used to having to put up with injured wild animals, thanks to her daughter's kind heart, which, of course, was inherited from her. Although, she was relieved that her daughter wasn't injured from her latest adventure in Sengoku Jidai.

She got out the soft blankets that they kept for this purpose and arranged them into a nest on the floor.

Together, mother and daughter then lifted the animal onto the blanket nest and started to examine its injuries.

Now, brought into the light, they could clearly see the extent of its injuries. They both gasped at the fresh wounds on it and some old and infected wounds. There were numerous whip marks on it, some old and some fresh.

There were also many cuts and scratches on it, some still bleeding. There were also the three gashes on its back, open and bleeding, it looked like they had been caused by claws.

After getting over their shock, Kagome took out their first aid kit as her mother soaked some cloths in a basin of water. They treated the worst wounds first.

After her mother had gently cleaned the wounds, Kagome treated it with antiseptic and bandaged it. This was a familiar routine for them, used to treating injured animals or Inuyasha, for Kagome's case.

For the gashes, she wrapped bandages around its chest and back and for the smaller cuts, she just left them uncovered.

Mama Higurashi continued washing the animal until it was clean, and they could finally tell what it was. They had already known it had soft black fur and a striped tail, but could not see anything else under the dried blood and wounds.

Now, a black tiger wrapped in white bandages lay unconscious on the pile of blankets in front of them. They were shocked again. There were white tigers, but black tigers?

The tiger was actually more of a lighter black, with darker black stripes. Other than its colour, it looked just like any other tiger.

The two of them exchanged confused glances, and Kagome spoke up first, "Well, let's just wait until it recovers before we decide on anything,"

-----

A week later

"Ehm... what should we do now?" Kagome sheepishly asked.

Only one week had passed, and the tiger had surprisingly fully recovered. Somehow, it had battled all the infection in its wounds, and the gashes had sealed up. Of course, they couldn't keep a tiger in a shrine, even though it was quite tame and didn't attack anyone.

First, they had tried releasing it into the forest behind the shrine, but it had just turned up in front of their house.

Then, they tried taking it to an animal shelter, but they didn't accept tigers and the tiger had frightened all the dogs there.

The zoo didn't even want such a rare animal, since the tiger easily broke out of any cage they tried to put it into. They continued to try to release it into forests and nature reserves, but it kept on coming back to the shrine.

After umpteen tries, they finally gave up and let it live on the shrine grounds indefinitely until they could find a solution. It only drank a dish of milk every day, so it was not much of a problem.

One of the nights when the Higurashi family had been out late, a burglar had sneaked into their house, hoping to find some antiques to steal.

However, he had been given an unpleasant surprise when he found the black tiger waiting for him in the living room. The tiger had been let in, because it was cold that night.

Upon sighting the burglar, the tiger had immediately attacked, knowing that the man carried bad intentions from his nervous scent. The burglar, having been already frightened out of his wits at the sight of a big black tiger, fainted when the tiger jumped towards him.

In the end, when the Higurashi's came back, the sight that greeted them was an unconscious man wearing a mask in the middle of their living room with their new pet tiger sitting innocently beside him, washing its paws.

They had called the police to take away the burglar, then treated their brave 'pet' to a nice steak.

After that incident, something else had happened. They had just come back after another failed attempt to release the tiger into the forest. It had happened when Kagome wanted to check on the wounds and see if they had healed alright.

Kagome had been fretting over the scars on its back, when a voice suddenly said in her mind, it is alright, these scars will fade with time.

Kagome had been so shocked that she nearly fell over. She had been kneeling down beside it when she heard it, and was unbalanced. The tiger looked up at her with clear blue eyes, similar to her own.

Are you alright? I hope I did not surprise you that much. The voice sounded in her mind with a hint of concern.

Kagome blinked.

"Ehh?! Umm, did you just speak in my mind?"

Yes, of course, who did you think was talking to you? The wall? The tiger snorted, clearly amused.

After getting over the fact that the tiger was telepathic, she timidly asked, "Umm, what are you then? If you don't mind me asking?"

I am a kuro tora, a tiger with the power of darkness. The clear blue eyes turned black, and the tiger glowed with power.

Kagome's eyes widened as her reiyouki flared to clash with the tiger's aura. Her power shone through her now white eyes, and they stared into each other's eyes as their auras battled. Black locked with white in a battle of wills.

Black tore away first, and their eyes returned to their normal hues of blue as the two drew back their powers.

"Your aura... It is not evil..."

Of course not. Darkness is a being of light. The tiger scoffed again.

"But, how can darkness be light? Isn't darkness evil?" Kagome was confused.

No, darkness, as a being of light, cannot be evil. However, darkness has been used by evil before, thus, we are always wrongly accused of being evil.

The tiger looked disgusted at the thought of being used while Kagome looked guilty at thinking that the tiger was evil.

There are different types of light, the one darkness belongs to is non-light. Your power, it seems, is of the purest of light. It is said to be the most powerful of the miko powers, which are a step higher than us creatures of power. Thus, you are my superior, both in status and in power.

The tiger rose up on all fours, and lowered its head towards Kagome. I would be honored to serve you, great miko, in gratitude for saving my life.

Kagome looked flustered at the title and awed by the revelation of the strength of her powers, and tried to object, "Ahh, umm, you really don't need to serve me! A simple thank you is fine."

Please, allow me to serve as your bodyguard when you venture into the feudal era.

"Huh? How did you know about that?" Kagome glared suspiciously at the tiger, who looked away guiltily as he replied, I.. read your mind while you were tending to my wounds.

She raised an eyebrow at him, and he continued hastily, I will never do it again, without your permission, but I wanted to understand your thoughts, and the reason why you rescued me.

'That makes sense. He would be wary of a stranger who rescued him, and might want to exploit his powers.' Kagome looked thoughtful at this revelation.

And I can read the minds of others as well, but only if my mistress wants me to. The tiger looked expectantly at her after that.

Kagome thought it over for a while, considering the pros and cons of bringing the tiger along with her to Sengoku Jidai.

One, she counted on her fingers, he could protect me, two, he could help the others in battle, three, he could play with Shippou and there were lots of other things he could do, like carry her bag.

She brightened up at the thought of someone else carrying that horrendous big yellow bag.

Cons... she stared blankly at her fingers.

"Okay! I agree!" The tiger actually looked happy. "But..." He turned downcast at that. "Firstly, you're not my servant, or my bodyguard. You will be my friend! Got that?"

Continuing, Kagome ignored the tiger's astonished face. "Secondly, you will play with Shippou and help me to look after him! No bullying him, or else!" At this, she glared at him.

He nodded, having already known about her kit from reading her mind. She seemed to love the kitsune as her own son, and the kit in turn, loved her as his own mother.

"Hmm..I think that's about it..." Deep in thought, trying to figure out something she knew she forgot, she didn't see the tiger until it had crept right in front of her.

"Whoa!" Kagome gasped, and laid her hand on her chest to quieten her fast-beating heart, not expecting him there when she looked up.

Letting out a huff of breath and calming down, she said in a triumphant tone, "Ah-ha! I knew I forgot something! What's your name?" She looked expectantly at the tiger.

I do not have one. Perhaps you could give me one.

"Hmm...How about.. Kuragari?"

Darkness? He sounded amused. It is a fitting name. Yes, I am Kuragari.

-----

Another week later

"Well, everything's packed, now let's go!" Kagome said cheerfully.

With her yellow bag overstuffed with ramen and other necessities, and Kuragari by her side, fully healed, she was ready to go back to Sengoku Jidai.

After this whole two weeks of rest, Inuyasha would surely nag at her and pick up the pace of their shard hunting. She walked over to the well house, and down the steps.

Together, they stared at the well for a while.

"It might not let you in...I think..." Kagome did not know whether Kuragari had come in through the well, or by some other way.

'Actually, come to think of it, he hasn't told me how he came through to here in the first place. Or, how he had gotten those horrible wounds... He looked like he was being whipped, maybe he was a slave and he escaped?' she mused.

It will work for me, as it has done for many times. His eyes were closed, and he looked peaceful as he reminicised.

"Well, I'll go first then," Kagome stepped forward and sat on the lip of the well, as she had always done, and swung her legs over. "See you on the other side, Kura!"

With a wave, she jumped into the well and let the familiar blue flash carry her off into the past.

Kuragari had opened his eyes in surprise at the nickname, and mused, My mistress never fails to surprise me. Anyway, it's time to go.

His shoulders reached past the edge of the well and he peered into the darkness below.

The last time I went through this well... The circumstances were so different... His eyes took on a pained look and he shook his head to clear away memories of the past.

Then, he took one last glance around the well house before taking a step back and leaping into the well, a black flash and his striped tail the last thing that could be seen.

After his departure, a shadow crept out from its corner.

"So, you think to hide from me, eh, my pet?" It gave a sinister cackle.

"No matter, I will let you go, for now..." It grinned and showed sharp teeth.

"But, you had best take care of that little miko now, you wouldn't want anything to happen to her, would you?"

The shadow slipped into the well, and a flash of sickly green light flashed in its passing of the time stream.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kagome landed on the dry ground at the bottom of the well, actually managing to land on her feet this time.

'Practice does make perfect!' she cheered triumphantly in her mind.

Moving off to one side of the well, she watched as Kuragari landed.

He landed gracefully on his forelegs first, then his hind legs slowly touched the ground.

"How did you do that?" she gaped at him.

Do what, mistress? He forgot to call her by her name again, falling into the habit of calling his mistress by her title.

"First, call me Kagome. Second, how did you land so gracefully? It took me so long just trying to learn how not to land on my butt!"

Kuragari blinked at her and calmly answered, its natural grace, I guess. After all, if cats can land on their feet, why not tigers? He gave a casual shrug. But, I have to call you Mistress, as an indication of our bond. I have pledged to serve you as your protector, thus, I am still your servant.

"But, others can't hear you, so it doesn't really matter, does it?"

I can still be heard by others, and I would feel uneasy calling my mistress by her name. It is much better for me to call you mistress, so that when others hear it, they will give you the respect due to you.

Come, ride on my back, I will get us out of this well. He changed the subject, leaving no room for argument.

Giving up on the topic for now, Kagome climbed onto his broad back and held onto his neck.

Kuragari crouched, then leapt high, until they were above the mouth of the well, before landing on the clearing in front of it. They landed lightly, and the flowers and grass around them were flattened by the wind they had created in their wake.

"Whee! Wow, that was really fun! Let's do it again!" Kagome grinned madly at the back of Kuragari's head, hyper from the rush. However, before she could ask him to jump again, a shout rang.

"Kagome!" The both of them looked up to see a red shape jumping from the trees and landing roughly on the patch of grass in front of them, flattening it.

"Oi, teme! Let go of Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted. He threw a punch at Kuragari, who leapt away, with Kagome still on his back.

By now, Kagome had an anime vein popping out on her forehead.

'Trying to protect me is nice and all.. But can't he use his brain? I wouldn't be sitting calmly on Kura's back if I was being captured, right? What's more, he's punching at Kura while I'm still on his back! He really has a death wish, doesn't he!'

"Inuyasha..."

In the middle of another punch, he suddenly stopped, scared by the familiar tone of voice. "Oi, Kagome.. wait-"

"OSUWARI!"

BOM! Instant hanyou-shaped hole on the once-pristine clearing. Birds chirped, flying away from the scene of the noisy confrontation.

Kuragari, having been briefed by Kagome on the possible behavior of Inuyasha when they appeared, was prepared when he was attacked by Inuyasha.

He just dodged all the punches thrown his way easily with his speed. He finally landed by Inuyasha's crater when the fight ended. Kagome jumped off his back, stalked over to the hole, and said, "Use your brain, baka! Kura isn't kidnapping me at all. He's my friend, and he's joining us on the shard hunt, whether you agree with it or not."

Kagome sent a glare towards the back of Inuyasha's head, because he didn't dare get up when Kagome was this mad.

Turning back to Kuragari, she smiled warmly, and beckoned, "Come on, Kura, let's go to the village and meet the others." Kuragari followed gracefully, moving like silk past the crater where Inuyasha was just trying to get up.

The hanyou is foolish, but it seems even he knows to keep out of my mistress's way when he incurs her wrath, he thought, already amused. Following my mistress will prove interesting, that is for sure.

The moment they reached the village, an orange ball of fur was launched at Kagome, as if shot from a cannon. Kuragari tensed for a moment, before relaxing, as Kagome hugged the ball of fur.

"Kagome, Kagome! Why'd you have to leave for so long! I missed you so much! And Inuyasha keeps bullying me when you're not around!" Shippou cried as he hugged Kagome around her waist.

Kagome laughed joyously, having really missed Shippou while she was in the present. She hugged him even tighter and squealed together with him, "I missed you too, Shippou-chan!"

Looking up, she spotted two familiar figures approaching.

Still holding onto Shippou, she waved to them, "Sango-chan! Miroku!"

"Kagome-chan!" Sango reached her first, and hugged her, almost crushing Shippou in the process.

Luckily, Shippou had seen her coming and climbed onto Kagome's shoulder before he could be crushed. Miroku approached next, smiling with sparkling eyes and holding his arms out, "Kagome-sama, don't I get a hug too?"

THUMP! Miroku collapsed on the ground, sporting a nice new bump on his head, courtesy of Sango's fist.

Sango turned to her best friend and said with her teeth clenched, "Don't worry, Kagome-chan, I'm sure houshi-sama was just too excited to see you again."

Then, Sango suddenly turned red and a vein popped out on her forehead. Miroku was, of course, being a pervert and groping her behind. He popped up and took her hand, saying "Why, my dearest Sango, but of course I haven't forgotten you-"

BANG! Miroku met with Sango's fist and made contact with the ground again.

"Houshi, you pervert-" She stopped mid-sentence.

By now, Sango had finally spotted Kuragari, who had been patiently waiting and watching their interaction with amusement.

"Err, Kagome-chan," Kagome was startled out of her thoughts.

"Ah, hai, Sango-chan?" Sango pointed behind Kagome, who followed the movement to Kuragari.

"Is he a friend of yours?"

"Oh! I totally forgot! Sango-chan, this is Kuragari, he's a kuro tora. Kura, this is Sango-chan, she's my best friend!"

Taijiya and tora approached each other slowly, and Kuragari bowed first, bending his forelegs. I am Kuragari, kuro tora of darkness. It is nice to meet you, Sango-sama.

Sango was startled when the tiger bowed and quickly followed suit, but was shocked when she heard his 'voice'. Kagome heard it too, through her bond with Kuragari and just smiled at Sango's shocked face.

"Ah? Ah.. I am Sango, a taijiya. It also nice to meet you, Kuragari-san." Sango said with some hesitance.

She stared curiously at Kagome until she realized, "Oh! Umm, I found Kura in the well house at my time and healed him. When he recovered, he volunteered to come shard hunting with us to protect me."

At Sango's questioning look, Kagome started again, "Oh, and he can mind speak with people," Kagome looked a bit sheepish.

"Hmmm... Interesting... Kagome-sama, you said you found him in your well house?" Miroku had once again miraculously risen up from unconsciousness and was now examining Kuragari closely.

He rubbed his chin and looked thoughtful. He went closer to the black tiger and stared into his eyes.

Kuragari blinked back at him in reflex.

By the time Kuragari had opened his eyes again, Miroku had propped open his mouth and was looking at his teeth in detail.

Kuragari was more than startled and tried to close his mouth before Miroku could attempt to stick his head in.

However, Miroku was, by now, looking closely at the stripes on his back. Kuragari sighed with a huff, and laid down so that Miroku could examine him more easily.

Behind the two, Sango and Kagome were sweat dropping at Miroku's antics.

"Ehh, Miroku... Why are you poking Kura?" Kagome asked, looking at poor Kuragari being prodded by the eccentric monk.

"Hmm?" Miroku looked up, in the middle of poking Kuragari's tail and trying to make it twitch.

"Oh, It just seemed fun when I thought of it." He shrugged nonchalantly and went back to poking Kuragari's tail. All jaws dropped, including Kuragari's. Everyone stared at Miroku, who was taking advantage of Kuragari's open mouth and peering and poking at his fangs.

Having been ordered not to attack her friends, all Kuragari could do was to turn pleading eyes towards Kagome.

"Ahh! Miroku, please stop playing with Kuragari. Let's go back to the hut first, and I'll make some ramen. Didn't you say you haven't eaten lunch yet?" Kagome smiled, somewhat awkwardly.

Miroku had looked up from Kuragari's mouth, eyes sparkling at the promise of food. He let go of Kuragari's head and dashed off in the direction of Kaede's hut. The others sweat dropped again, including Kuragari.

Mistress,

"Ah, hai!" Kagome turned to look at Kuragari.

Does the monk always act like that?

"Hehehehe... Good question..." she smiled sheepishly. She turned thoughtful, then replied, "I think he only acts like that when he's on a sugar high. Sango-chan, did he eat all the sweets I left here?" She turned to Sango.

"Yes! Kagome, Kagome, he ate all my sweets and my pocky too!" Shippou suddenly spoke up while tugging her shirt from his spot at her shoulder.

'That whole bag of sweets... Plus Shippou's four boxes of pocky... No wonder he's on a sugar high!' They were suddenly struck by realization.

"Oi! What's everyone doing just standing there! We've got shards to hunt, remember!" Inuyasha was back to his usual brash self, having recovered from his meeting with the dirt.

Looking at Kuragari, who was staring disinterestedly back at him, he continued, "And that mangy tiger isn't coming either! I'm the leader of this group and you can't just bring along animals whenever you want!" Then, just realizing that what he said could trigger another personal meeting with the ground, he cringed.

However, instead of sitting Inuyasha, as she would have liked to, Kagome just smiled and put on her best puppy dog eyes and blinked cutely at Inuyasha. "Please? For me?" she wheedled, and put on a pout, just in case.

Inuyasha's face turned as bright red as his fire rat haori and managed to stammer out, "K-Keh! I don't care what you do with tha-that tiger! As long as you don't make me look after it or a-anything!" After that, he quickly retreated into his forest, a red blur jumping into the trees.

'Ha! I'm the best!' Kagome did a little victory dance on the spot, causing more sweat drops among the others.

Mistress, why did you not use the rosary that gives you power over the hanyou? It seems like you prefer using that most of the time.

"Oh! Erm, well..." Kagome rubbed the back of her head, looking a bit guilty. She bent down and whispered in Kuragari's ear, "...I feel guilty from using the rosary to subdue him so many times, so I decided to give him a break this time."

She stood up and smiled. "Well, everyone, let's go back to the hut. I'm sure Miroku's tired of waiting for us already."

They trooped off together towards the hut, Sango and Kagome idly chatting on the way, while Shippou rode on Kagome's shoulder with Kuragari trotting beside her.

----

"Ramen's done!"

Everyone sat together in Kaede's cramped hut, including Inuyasha, who had come down at the mention of his favorite ramen.

The sound of slurping noodles filled the air, the noisiest being Inuyasha, of course. When everyone had finished, including Kuragari who was given a bowl of noodles too, and Miroku had come out of his sugar high (the way to counteract Miroku's sugar high is to give him something salty, in this case, miso ramen), they sat down to discuss the next stop on the shard hunt. Or rather, to argue about where to go next...

"There were rumors about two shards in the village north of here two weeks ago," Miroku started.

"But there are also rumors about a youkai holding many jewel shards in the west," Kagome added. "Should we go check it out?"

"Keh! We ain't going anywhere near my bastard brother's territory! I don't care if there are a hundred jewel shards there! We ain't going!" Inuyasha yelled.

"Alright, Inuyasha! You don't have to yell in my ear!" Unfortunately, Kagome was sitting right next to him. "Well, why don't we go to the north then?"

"We're not going to the north either! That's where that wimpy wolf is!"

"But, Inuyasha... if we don't go into the west or the north, how are we going to collect jewel shards? These are, after all, the only news we've got. And all the other rumors proved to be true as well, so why shouldn't we believe them?" Kagome sighed.

"Keh! Fine! We'll go to the north! But don't come running to me to ask me to save you from that wimpy wolf!" Inuyasha crossed his arms stubbornly. The others just sighed and packed up for the trip, used to Inuyasha's childish behavior.

----

"Alright! We're leaving tomorrow morning then! Everyone, have a good night's sleep!" Kagome cheerfully announced .Everyone said their goodnights too and turned in, except for Inuyasha who was outside doing who knows what.

"Ah, come here, Kura, sleep next to me and Shippou." She patted the space beside her sleeping bag. Kuragari padded over, carefully settling himself next to Kagome.

She patted his head and said goodnight before wriggling into her sleeping bag. She hugged Shippou as she closed her eyes and fell asleep. Kuragari looked at his mistress to make sure she was asleep before slinking out of the hut and taking watch by the door.

Looking up, he saw Inuyasha lying in the tree next to the hut. Inuyasha saw him and nodded.

Kuragari then laid down in front of the hut's entrance and prepared to keep watch for the rest of the night.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Ahhhhh..." Having just woken up, Kagome yawned and stretched her arms while still lying down. She sat up and blinked sleepily at the sunlight streaming in through the doorway.

She looked around the hut, noting that the others were still asleep. Suddenly, she felt that something was missing, but could not remember what.

A black shape suddenly poked its head through the wooden screen covering the entrance.

'What's that?' She rubbed her eyes and squinted against the bright sunlight, trying to focus. She was still drowsy and sleepy, as she always was in the morning. She finally recognized the shape as it got closer to her.

"Ahh...Ohaiyou gozaimasu, Kura!" Kagome gave a sleepy smile to him.

Ohaiyou, mistress. I hope you slept well. He laid down next to her and let her hug him around his neck.

"You too. How long have you been awake?" Kagome released him and smiled again.

Kuragari found himself in a dilemma, not wanting her to worry over him, as she had when she found out that he would stay up the night to guard her in her world, but also unable to lie to her, because she would believe him.

So, somewhat guiltily, he told her that he had stayed awake the whole night to guard her.

Kagome frowned a bit and started to say something, but a slight rustling beside her caught her attention instead.

Kuragari mentally heaved a sigh of relief, making sure not to let Kagome know it.

He was relieved that she would not say anything about it or forbid him to do it, as he had a strong sense of duty to protect her, and also because she was a nice mistress and friend to him.

The rustling had been Shippou waking up.

He yawned and sat up, blinking his eyes sleepily. Looking at him, Kagome had the sudden urge to hug him and squeal, "Kawaii!", but she restrained herself, not wanting to scare Shippou or wake the others up so early in the morning.

Instead, she just grinned happily, feeling extremely blessed that she was the mother of such a cute kitsune son.

"Ohaiyou, Shippou dear!" Kagome beamed cheerily at Shippou, who drowsily mumbled back a greeting.

"..Ohaiyou, 'kaa-san..." He rubbed his eyes with small fists, and yawned again, showing his small fangs. Once again, Kagome had to control the urge to squeeze the little kitsune to death. "...what time is it? Is it time to go yet?"

"Nope, not yet. The others aren't even awake yet. Just go back to sleep for a little while, and I'll wake you up when we're going."

Kagome patted his head of orange hair and tucked him back into the sleeping bag.

With a mumbled "...'kay, 'kaasan...", Shippou was instantly asleep again and snoring softly.

Kagome turned back to Kuragari and tried to say something, but was once again interrupted.

"Oi, everybody! Wake up, you lazy butts!" Inuyasha rudely charged in and started yelling at everybody, waking everyone up, including Shippou.

Miroku and Sango just sighed when they saw it was Inuyasha, and started getting up, already used to Inuyasha's rude way of waking people up.

Shippou crawled over to Kagome and hugged her arm, mumbling, "...'kaasan, make him stop...", and fell asleep in her lap.

Kagome turned to Inuyasha, a vein popping up on the back of her head and her hair shadowing her face.

"Inuyasha..." The tone of her voice sent chills down the spine of said hanyou.

"K-Kagome... W-wait! Don't be too hasty-" Inuyasha took a step back. And a few more for good measure.

"Osuwari!" Kagome hissed, half whisper and half yell, trying not to wake Shippou up. Looking down at Shippou, she saw he was still sleeping soundly.

'Phew, he's still asleep.'

BOOM!

Inuyasha had a late reaction, because Kagome had whispered the subduing word and it took some time for him to confirm what she had said. That finally startled Shippou awake, and Kagome sighed. 'Never count your chickens before they hatch, I guess.'

Giving up on sleep, Shippou fully woke up and volunteered to go with Kagome to the nearby stream to wash up. They walked out of the hut with Shippou hitching a ride on Kagome's shoulder again, sidestepping the fallen hanyou on the way.

While they were walking, Kagome finally introduced Kuragari to Shippou and they got along instantly.

Surprisingly, they chatted nonstop, with Shippou talking and Kuragari mind speaking, all the way to the stream, talking about small things like Shippou's favorite pocky and how many stripes Kuragari had.

Kagome was listening in on the conversation through her bond with Kuragari and by listening to Shippou and was amused by their talk. She wouldn't have guessed that Kuragari had that many stripes.

She laughed along with them at Shippou's retelling of all the foolish things that Inuyasha did and before they knew it, they were already at the stream.

Kagome washed up and helped Shippou brush his fangs too. Then, she suggested giving Kuragari a bath with a grin.

At the mere mention of a bath, Kuragari had turned from relaxed pet to scared kitty in two seconds.

He tried to run before Kagome could get Shippou to help her wash him, but alas, it was too late.

They had him surrounded!

Kagome made a grab for Kuragari, who slipped out of her hold and scrabbled for freedom.

However, before he could get away, Shippou placed one of his leaves on top of Kuragari's head and chanted, "Satsu, Satsu!"

Kuragari was getting ready to sprint when he was frozen in his position. The two looked at each other, sharing similar evil grins.

Together, they lifted the poor frozen black tiger into the stream, and poured water all over him.

Now, Kuragari was only frozen in place, he wasn't a statue or ice, so his fur got all wet, making him look like a drowned cat.

His pleading eyes only completed the look, and Kagome whipped out a camera and snapped a picture.

His face turned horrified, since he knew what cameras were and knowing for sure that Kagome would keep it, his horrified look just turned deeper.

Shippou cackled mercilessly and Kagome grinned as they soaped up Kuragari's fur.

Now, he looked like some maniac black poodle with a resigned expression. Kagome took another picture and giggled helplessly at Kuragari's face.

They finally washed the soap off, after Kagome had taken more pictures with Shippou posing around the helpless Kuragari.

Then, they carried him to dry land again, and proceeded to towel him off. They took one look at the dried Kuragari and burst into laughter.

While drying him, they had fluffed up his fur, and now he looked like a puffy sheep with spiky fur sticking out all over.

Kagome took more pictures before they finally let him off and removed Shippou's leaf.

Finally free, Kuragari shook his head a few times to get rid of water in his ears before looking woefully at Kagome and Shippou.

"Awww... Don't worry, Kura. It wasn't anything personal!" Kagome grinned at him, giving him a pat of assurance on his head.

"It was just fun playing with you!" Kuragari looked even more woeful and pitiable at that statement. What was up with these people? Torturing him and saying it was just for fun.

"Ehehehe..." Kagome looked sorry for Kuragari, but, it was just too fun playing with him!

With the fun over, they finally went back to the hut, this time with Shippou riding on Kuragari. There, they met the rest, all ready to go off on their latest adventure. They got ready too and the group left the village, with Kaede sending them off, heading north towards Kouga's territory.

---

Kagome squinted her eyes at the hot sun, trying to see what was in front of them.

Giving up against the bright glare of sunrays, she turned to the group that was trudging heavily under the scorching sun on the exposed path.

Without any trees around, there was no shade from the midday sun, and the group was clearly suffering.

"Minna-san! Just bear with it a bit longer until we reach somewhere where we can rest!" Kagome tried to encourage the group, who were falling behind Inuyasha, who was still walking at a fast pace, oblivious to the sufferings of the others.

"Inuyasha! Can't you walk a little bit slower! We aren't all hanyous with incredible endurance, you know!" Kagome gestured towards the group.

Miroku, who was sweltering under his heavy monk's robes and leaning heavily on his shakujou, using it as a walking stick, Sango, who was in her kimono and carrying her giant boomerang, Hirarikotsu, with much difficulty, Shippou, who had swirly eyes and was lying on Kuragari's back, Kuragari who, having black fur, was most probably suffering the most of all.

And Kagome herself, who was wearing a light blouse and short skirt, but still sweating horribly. It had been about three hours since they had left the village.

They had left in the morning, and now it was noon.

"Keh! Hurry up, there's a spot with trees and a spring up ahead." Brightened up by the prospect of rest, the group picked up their pace and soon, they came up upon the spot that Inuyasha had seen.

Sighing in unison, they all settled on the soft green grass, and it seemed like even Inuyasha had been affected by the heat, as he quickly jumped into the spring then retreated into the trees.

Sango and Miroku sat near each other, and even Miroku was too tired to grope Sango, which was saying something about the intensity of the heat.

Kuragari sat down beside Kagome, who was sitting beside the spring in a shady spot. He lay down, panting from the heat.

Shippou rolled off his back and fell flat on the soft grass. There, he continued making swirly eyes until Kagome fanned him with a paper fan.

Then, he sat up and leaned against Kagome's leg. She was sitting down with her knees up. Kagome fanned Kuragari next, since he looked like he was going to die from heatstroke soon.

Thank you, Mistress. This heat is... unbearable. He panted, his tongue hanging out from the side of his mouth. After a while, he got up and waded into the spring, sighing from the cool relief the water brought.

Kagome decided to join him, and sat at the edge of the spring under a shady spot, dangling her legs in the water. Shippou followed Kuragari, who had sunk deep into the cool water, leaving only the top of his head and nose visible, and laid on his back, floating on the water.

Sango and Miroku had also joined them on the water's edge, following Kagome's example and sticking their legs in the water too. Sango sat on Kagome's left and Miroku on her right.

"Ahh... Kagome-chan, do you sense any shards yet?" Kagome concentrated for a moment, and then shook her head.

"Nope, I don't sense any shards at all. Maybe the village is further onwards." Kagome still had the feeling that something or someone was missing.

"Ah, Sango, isn't it time for Kirara to return?" Miroku questioned the exhausted taijiya.

"Yes, now that you mention it... She should be back by now... I hope she can catch up with us soon." Sango replied with a hint of worry for her beloved fire cat.

"Ahh! I didn't even realize Kirara wasn't here! Where did she go?" Kagome felt guilty about forgetting about Kirara.

"It's alright, Kagome-chan. She went back to her territory to visit her family. It has been a while since she last visited them so she went back to check on them." Sango reassured Kagome.

"Ehh? I didn't know Kirara had family or a territory! I never thought about it before..." Kagome looked even more guilty.

"It's alright, Kagome-chan. She doesn't mind coming with us instead of staying with them." Sango reassured Kagome again.

"Speaking of Kirara, here she comes now," Miroku shaded his eyes against the sun's glare and looked up into the sky.

The others followed suit, and spotted a small shadow in the sky coming towards them at a fast rate.

It came closer and closer, until they could finally see the great fire cat in her bigger form coming right at them.

When she finally reached them, she suddenly changed back into her normal form in midair and landed neatly on Sango's lap.

She purred and rubbed her face against Sango's cheek when Sango picked her up.

"Welcome back, Kirara!" Kagome cheerfully greeted her. Miroku echoed the greeting and Sango hugged Kirara. Shippou came out of the water to pet Kirara and to welcome her back too.

Kuragari waded out of the spring and shook himself off at the side. He came over, peering curiously at Kirara, who stared curiously back.

Kirara jumped off Sango's lap to land in front of Kuragari. They stared at each other's eyes for a while.

Blood red meeting clear blue.

They blinked in unison and then Kirara mewed happily, with Kuragari purring back. Kuragari bent his head down and rubbed his nose against Kirara's side, tickling her with his whiskers.

She mewed in laughter and swished her two tails against his nose, tickling him back. He wrinkled his nose and stared at it, cross-eyed.

And sneezed.

The others who were watching this warm scene laughed.

Kirara transformed into her bigger form with a flash of fire, almost the same size as Kuragari now.

However, Kuragari was still a bit bigger than her. They nuzzled each other and communicated through mews, meows and growls.

Their watchers smiled at each other, except for Miroku, who grinned lecherously and said, while his hand was creeping towards its usual target,

"Well, they're getting quite close to each other, don't you think? My dearest Sango, maybe we should do the same-"

Touch.

BASH! BUMP! CRASH! THUMP!

Miroku hit the dirt, almost the same way Inuyasha did when he was sat. Only, Miroku had three nice red lumps on his head, courtesy of Sango's fist.

Kagome sweat dropped, 'she did overdo it a bit, after all...' and tried to calm the fuming Sango down.

"Ah, Sango-chan, just ignore him. Let's go sit by those shady trees over there!" She directed Sango towards a nice shady spot, steering clear of the twitching lecherous monk on the ground.

Sango sat down with a sigh, and Kagome sat beside her. She hugged her knees and looked at Kagome, who was sitting with her legs to the side. Sango made sure that Miroku wasn't within hearing range first before speaking.

"Kagome-chan..." Sango began,

"Sometimes, I just don't understand that lecher. I mean, first he proclaims his love for me, then goes off to other girls, asking them to bear his child, then comes back to me asking for forgiveness, and after I forgive him, he immediately gropes me!"

She gave another sigh, followed by Kagome.

"Sango-chan, do you know that actions speak louder than words?" Kagome was looking up through the foliage, at the blue sky, dotted with fluffy clouds.

"What does that have to do with this?" Sango gave her a confused look.

"Well, maybe you should look at Miroku's actions rather than his words. Haven't you seen the way he looks at you?"

A blush confirmed her words.

"And, he hasn't groped any other girls besides you ever since you joined the group. Maybe he asks those girls to bear his child just out of habit, you know?"

"He does need an heir to carry on his line, since Naraku cursed him with the wind tunnel. He needs at least a small bit of hope to carry him through these troubling times."

"He wants to carry on his line and I'm sure he has been asking that question for a very long time. He just needs to ask it, to keep that small spark of hope that someone will finally agree someday."

Kagome paused a while to look at Sango's expression of understanding before continuing.

"Also, haven't you noticed how troubled he looks when he stares at his cursed hand for a while? He has the dilemma of wanting an heir, but also not wanting to pass down the curse of the kazaana."

"He has a difficult choice to make if we don't manage to kill Naraku. That's why no matter what, we can't fail in our quest. So much depends on the jewel shards and this quest. Inuyasha's revenge for Kikyou, Miroku's curse, vengeance for your family's deaths, Kohaku..."

Kagome stopped when she noticed Sango's teary eyes. Alarmed, she put an arm around Sango's shoulders and tried to apologize.

"Ah! Sango-chan! I'm sorry for bringing up painful things from the past... I won't talk about it anymore, I promise!" Kagome was flustered and started to rant, saying over and over again how she shouldn't have brought up the subject and caused Sango-chan pain.

"Kagome-chan..."

Kagome stopped in the middle of her rant, and nervously asked, "Hai, Sango-chan?"

Sango looked up, a happy expression on her face, complete with tears of joy. She hugged the clueless Kagome tightly for a while, before releasing her.

"Arigatou, Kagome-chan. Thanks for making me realize," Sango gave a warm smile to Kagome, which was rare for her.

Kagome finally realized what Sango said, and understanding came over her face. She smiled back at her dear friend, and replied, "It's alright, Sango-chan,"

Just as Sango was about to sat something, she suddenly tensed. She picked up Hiraikotsu, which was lying conveniently next to them, and threw it behind her.

Kagome heard a soft thump, and Sango caught Hiraikotsu again.

Kagome peeked behind Sango, and sweat dropped.

Miroku was knocked out cold on the grass, a giant bump on his head where Hiraikotsu had hit him.

Sango's face was shadowed, but Kagome could tell that she was angry.

"Well, Kagome-chan... Let's talk later. For now, I feel like training, so excuse me." Sango's voice was tight and tense.

She got up and called to Kirara, who came over immediately, cutting short her conversation with Kuragari.

Kuragari and Shippou looked on curiously as Sango grabbed Hiraikotsu and jumped onto Kirara's back. Then, they took off for a forest in the far distance.

Kagome just sighed and looked pityingly at the far-off shadow in the sky. She turned back to Miroku just in time to see Inuyasha jump down from the trees and poke him with a fallen tree branch.

Note, it was a tree branch. Not a stick.

Kagome just sweat dropped at Inuyasha, who was holding the tree branch with one hand and prodding Miroku with it.

It had the desired effect of getting the fallen monk awake though. Miroku swatted Inuyasha's branch away, and sat up, brushing off his robes.

"Miroku, you pervert! Look what you've done! You've chased Sango away with your bad habit of groping her whenever she starts to like you!!" Kagome scolded him, looking very annoyed and exasperated with the lecherous monk.

Miroku looked blankly at Kagome.

She finally gave up and threw her hands up in defeat. "I don't know how Sango puts up with it, honestly..."

She stalked off with Kuragari and Shippou to the spring and sat down by it.

Miroku turned to Inuyasha, confused. "Keh, don't ask me about women! I don't know nothing of them."

With that, Inuyasha leapt into the trees and retreated. With a sigh, he leaned against the nearest tree and slid down until he reached the ground. He stared forlornly at his staff, which he was holding. Then, he turned to his cursed hand.

Sadness and helplessness washed over him, feelings borne over from his grandfather and father who had also carried this curse and perished from it.

Sometimes, while meditating, he could discover the thoughts and feelings of the men before him, through the link of the curse.

They had been so desperate, and felt so alone, as no one but them had understood the weight of the curse they carried.

His grandfather, had been the most dejected, knowing that he had brought this curse upon his family.

Then, he had, like Miroku was doing now, searched for a woman who would bear his child, so that his family line would not disappear.

He had found one, at last, and Miroku's father was born.

Then, after just one year with his newborn son, his grandfather had died, consumed by his own hand, and the curse was passed on to Miroku's father, who was but a babe in his mother's arms then.

Miroku's father had grown up with the curse, never knowing what life was like without it.

Growing up in misery and despair, shunned by those in his village because of the curse, Miroku's father had grown up lonely.

Then, one day, he met a girl who changed his life. They had fallen in love at first sight, and got married later on. She had not cared about his curse, or the fact that he would be gone soon.

Then, Miroku was born.

From there, things went downhill fast.

Miroku's mother was killed by an evil hanyou who had appeared while she and Miroku were alone, and stabbed her through the heart.

She had protected Miroku with what little purifying powers she had, and never thought about herself.

Miroku's father had come back to find his house destroyed, his wife dead and his son crying in the midst of all the rubble.

After burying his wife, he had packed his meager belongings and left the village with his son.

Then, he went on a quest to find Naraku, and vowed to avenge his wife, who had fallen prey to the family's curse.

Then, after wandering around Japan for four years, he met Mushin, a monk at a remote temple in the mountains.

They became good friends, and Miroku's father stayed a while there.

Then, one day, while out in the field, the kazaana had suddenly expanded, and it swallowed Miroku's father whole, right in front of his five year old son, who struggled to reach him while Mushin held him back.

Then, when his father had been totally consumed, Miroku had watched as the kazaana formed on his small hand. That had been the end of his short and carefree childhood, and he had started on the same path of his ancestors, living a hard life while bearing the curse.

His thoughts turned back to himself, and he sighed once more.

After joining this group, his life had never been filled with so much laughter and joy.

Inuyasha's constant bumbling with Kagome and him getting sat, Kagome's cheerful attitude, Shippou's childishness. These all made for happy days and much laughter.

Then, there was...Sango.

His eyes turned cloudy, and he smiled wistfully.

Sango, the love of his life.

Just like his father, he had found true love at first sight, the moment he had laid eyes on her. She was strong on the outside, but on the inside, she was suffering from Kohaku's betrayal and the loss of her family and entire village.

But, she was even stronger inside, because she never once cried in front of them or let any of her grief show. She had iron control over her emotions, and that was why Miroku admired her. But, the reason he loved her was because...

"Miroku, Sango-chan's coming back!" Kagome shouted at the daydreaming monk, trying to wake him up before Sango reached them.

Startled from his thoughts, Miroku scrambled up and stood, turning his head left and right, trying to spot Sango.

"Miroku, up there..." Kagome sweat dropped at Miroku, who was searching the ground, and pointed upwards at the sky.

Miroku nodded and scanned the horizon.

Finding nothing, Miroku turned back to Kagome, and twitched.

Sango was landing with Kirara, from the opposite direction in which he was searching.

He sighed and stared dreamily at Sango, who was greeting Kagome.

She turned around, spotted him, and immediately turned back, crossing her arms with a 'humph!', ignoring him in favor of talking to Kagome.

He looked rejected, and leaned against the tree again. He thought back on all that had happened between them, and smiled.

Although sometimes she acted like she could care less about him, her actions showed that she cared far deeper than she herself knew.

That she hit him whenever he asked other women to bear his child that she worried for his health when he had sucked up some saimyoushou through his kazaana...

Yes, the reason he loved her was clear.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Kuragari concentrated for a while, and a black glow appeared around him.

He looked up to his mistress and she nodded.

He knelt down so that she could get onto his back, and when she was seated, he took a step back and leapt powerfully into the sky.

He waited until they were quite high in the sky before landing on nothing, right in midair.

The black glow surrounding his body glimmered, then shot forth in a burst of dark light, forming a path in front of his feet.

From the ground, it would have looked like a dark rainbow beginning from Kuragari and ending some distance in front of him. He took a step forward, and the path remained firm.

He looked around for his companion, and finally spotting her at his left, he roared at her, and she gave an answering roar. It was time to move on.

The black tiger raced on his dark path right alongside the fire cat, who was just flying in the sky.

Together, the pair moved quickly through the sky, following a blurred red shape which was jumping from tree to tree on the ground below them.

After noticing that the red shape was falling behind them, Kuragari jumped off his path, flying down at an incredible speed, and landed on a dark spot that had just formed right before he had landed.

He jumped off to another spot, and continued jumping, with the dark path still following above him, until he reached the red shape.

Just as Inuyasha jumped off a tree branch, and was about to land on another tree, when suddenly, he hit something in midair.

"What the hell- Oomph!"

Inuyasha crashed face-first onto Kuragari's back, right behind Kagome.

He managed to sit up after a while, and rubbed his nose, complaining loudly about his landing.

Kuragari gave no indication that he was hurt by the impact, and continued jumping on the dark spots, which were slowly rising higher and higher, until he reached the dark path.

From there, he continued racing with Kirara, enjoying the rush of the wind on his fur.

Kagome looked worriedly at Kuragari, nibbling at her lip, until he spoke in her mind, I am fine. I have endured through worse.

Her eyes widened at this, and seeing her reaction from the corners of his eyes, Kuragari hastily amended, I have carried heavier loads than this, and I am used to it.

"Alright, but stop if you're tired, ok?" Kagome relented, and the tiger nodded his agreement.

Kagome held onto Shippou, as he peered excitedly at the ground far below, and looked for Kirara.

She spotted Sango, who was riding on Kirara together with Miroku, and waved. Sango waved back, and they moved faster, towards the north.

As the scenery passed by in a blur, Kagome stared at the dark path below them, while still keeping an eye on Shippou.

'How does Kuragari do this? What exactly can his powers do? Come to think of it, there's a lot about Kuragari I still don't know... Even after the two weeks I spent with him, well, one week, considering he was injured for the first week, I still don't know much of anything about him.'

'Hmm, I'll make a list and ask him later, when we camp for the night.' Kagome nodded firmly to herself, and started to make up a list of questions to ask Kuragari.

Meanwhile, behind her, Inuyasha was sulking about the ride.

He mumbled to himself, "...it's not like I couldn't keep up, right? I mean, they're not that fast anyway. And this damned tiger didn't have to just come up below me and hit me on the nose..."

He rubbed his sore nose, which was turning red and looked squashed. "...humph, there's nothing cool about walking on a black line in the middle of the sky, anyway..."

Suddenly, he realized that he was right behind Kagome, and started to look at her back.

'Kagome... Her back is perfect, and her skin looks so fair and smooth...' He started to reach out to touch her back, but quickly caught himself before he did so. He blushed a furious red, and glanced sneakily around to see if anyone had noticed.

He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that everyone was busy looking in front, and no one had seen him.

To distract himself from Kagome, he peeked over Kuragari's side, and glared at the dark path as if it was insulting him.

Kuragari, of course, had heard all his complaints with his sensitive hearing, which was better than a youkai's, but chose to ignore it.

After spending just two days with the hanyou, he had already gotten used to Inuyasha's childishness and coarse language.

He concentrated on running and controlling the path instead.

---

Somewhere to the north...

"Aku no denka, the trap has been set, and the targets are heading our way. They will be here in a day." A shadow silhouette kneeled before a person seated on a throne.

"Good..." the person purred in a smooth voice, and the kageboushi, although it couldn't feel, could almost imagine the snakes slithering all over its shadow body, and shivered.

The voice turned sharp and icy, and a command was hissed, "Soushitsu."

The kageboushi disappeared, and all that was left of it were tendrils of shadow rising from the spot where it had been.

A sneer formed over the thin lips of the person on the throne, and shadows rose to gather around his face, leaving only his mouth visible.

"Soon... my dear pet... soon... we will be reunited..."

A malicious grin took the place of the sneer, and the shadows swayed and darkened with the suddenly tense and heavy atmosphere.

---

Back to the group, who have seemingly encountered an obstacle...

"Oi! Get out of the road, you annoying birds!" Inuyasha shook his fist at the crows that had just landed on Kuragari's path, blocking his way.

The crows paid no heed to him, instead, they looked straight at Kuragari with their beady eyes.

Kuragari stared straight back at them, then roared thunderously in anger. He narrowed his eyes at the crows, which had not moved one bit, and growled threateningly.

Kagome could feel the vibrations all over his body, and stroked his fur soothingly. She had also seen the message, through the refractions of light in the crows' eyes.

Only creatures of light could send messages to one another like that, and it seemed like the crows were being controlled by someone else, who knew about this ability.

The crows were just normal birds, but they were usually led by a crow Master.

Once the crow Master was possessed, the crows could be controlled.

It was the same for other types of animals who lived in herds or groups. Each group of animals would have a Master, which controlled that particular group alone.

A Master was usually born within the group, and it would appear normal at first, but soon it would grow much larger than the rest and take control.

Masters were creatures of wild light, and they weren't easily tamed.

Kagome recounted all this in her mind, since she had learned about all the different groups of light during that one week with Kuragari.

The reason why Kuragari was so agitated, and was twitching madly while standing still, was because of the crows' message.

The crow Master was being possessed by an evil spirit, and the crows had been sent by the evil spirit to bring Kuragari to their nest.

Kirara landed on the dark path cautiously, and prodded it with one paw before she stepped on it.

Sango and Miroku got off, and similarly prodded the path with their toes before stepping onto it.

Kagome and Inuyasha also got off Kuragari, and they gathered together on the narrow path, just in front of the crows.

When they finally managed to squeeze together, the path suddenly expanded into a large black circle, with them in the center.

Coincidentally, the piece of path that the crows were previously perching on disappeared, and the crows flew off, squawking indignantly.

All heads turned to Kuragari, who did the tiger's equivalent to a casual shrug.

Kagome raised an eyebrow at him, and he padded off to join Kirara at the edge of the circle. As they started to converse in the cat language, Kagome and the others started to converse in their own discussion.

"Well, guys, what should we do?" Kagome asked the rest. They shared similar clueless looks until Inuyasha spoke up. Well, more like yelled.

"What else! We should just go and rescue those crows so that we can get on with our shard hunt! Otherwise, you would just bother me to go save them until I agreed! Keh!" He crossed his arms and looked annoyed.

Sango looked nervously at Kagome to see her reaction to the brash hanyou's words, worried that she would sit him and the circle would just collapse under them.

To her utter surprise, Kagome just smiled and clasped her hands together, and replied, "Well, that's decided then! We're going to rescue the crows!"

'Kagome has really grown up, hasn't she... It's only been two years since I joined the group, and she has already matured so much...' Sango half-lamented on Kagome's lost innocence.

Her innocence has not been lost. It is still there, only, Kagome has grown wiser on the ways of the world.

Startled, Sango met the clear blue eyes of Kuragari.

I can read minds. And, my energy will not disperse just because my mistress sits the hanyou. It will simply give way and let the hanyou through.

Giving a nonchalant shrug at the possible plight of the hanyou if Kagome were to sit him at this height, Kuragari turned back to continue his conversation with Kirara.

Sango thought it over for a while before giving up on figuring out Kuragari.

----

Thus, the group started on another adventure, and headed off to the northeast, where the nest was.

"Oh, EEW!" Kagome squealed, as she stepped on another pile of goo.

She hopped on one foot and kept on squealing at her now squishy shoe, as the others looked on.

When she started to hear stifled sniggers coming from the group behind her, she turned around and glared. Miroku immediately straightened up and looked away innocently, Sango bent her head down to hide her grin, and even Kirara and Kuragari pretended to be deep in conversation.

Only Shippou, who was on Kuragari's back, who was asleep on Kuragari's back, and Inuyasha, who was at the front and did not see Kagome step into the mysterious puddle, were not laughing.

They had been walking in a dark and damp forest for quite some time now, and have not yet seen the nest, or any crows.

'Come to think of it, we haven't seen any animals or living things at all...' Kagome thought to herself after she had cleaned her shoe.

She looked around the deserted forest, with old dead trees all around, and an eerie wind blowing.

She shivered when the suddenly cold breeze brushed past her.

There was definitely an evil aura around here.

Kuragari was by her side, and provided some warmth for her uncovered legs.

'Curse this short skirt! What in the world possessed me to wear a SKIRT in Sengoku-Jidai?!' She cursed her own stupidity and thanked the gods for Kuragari's warmth on her legs.

Mistress?

Kuragari looked worriedly at Kagome, who was shivering and trying to stand as close to him as she could.

'Yes?' Kagome was now thankful of the telepathic bond between them, since she was too cold to speak.

You are cold?

'Yes...' Kagome sighed, and looked at the others.

The others seemed to be doing fine, since they were all in warm clothes.

Suddenly, Kagome felt warmth surrounding her from the outside, and looked to Kuragari. He was glowing black, as he always did when he used his powers.

'Arigatou, Kura!' Kagome smiled happily at him. He nodded, and they continued to walk in silence.

Finally, they reached the nest, which looked more like a cave than anything else.

Shippou had awakened by then, and, curious, he peered into the dark cavern.

Inuyasha had unsheathed his Testsusaiga, and together with Miroku, was standing ready at the opening, ready for anything that might come out.

Sango held her Hiraikotsu at ready, and Kagome gripped her bow tightly, with an arrow in her hand.

Suddenly, a large crow flew out, cawing loudly. Shippou fell back in surprise, and tried to scramble back, but the crow swooped down to attack him.

Before anyone could react, an arrow pierced right through the crow, and it fell to the ground lifelessly.

Everyone looked back in surprise at Kagome, who was still holding her bow up.

Kuragari bounded up to Shippou, and gripped the shaking kitsune's shirt gently with his teeth and brought Shippou back to Kagome, who put down her bow in favor of comforting her son.

As Kagome whispered reassuring words to Shippou, Miroku inspected the crow, and the arrow which was embedded in a tree next to the cave.

He was startled by the discovery that the arrow had made a clean hole through the crow, and was stuck deep in the tree.

He related the news to Sango, and they both turned to Kagome in wonderment.

By now, Kagome had noticed their attention, and shrugged indifferently.

"I practiced in my family's shrine whenever I could, and I guess, the training paid off."

At this, she looked brighter.

"Come on, guys, let's go. This evil spirit had better be prepared for us, especially if it tried to hurt Shippou."

There was a menacing glint in her bright blue eyes, and the others looked the same.

Inuyasha, having been ignored for a while, tried to get their attention.

Waving Testsusaiga around, he shouted, annoyed.

"Oi, hurry up, you slowpokes! What's so amazing about shooting an arrow, anyway!"

Without waiting for them, he stormed off into the dark cave by himself.

The others exchanged exasperated looks, and followed after their leader.

---

Inside the cave, walking in a narrow tunnel, Kagome squinted and tried to see past the faint light her torchlight cast.

Some time had passed, and they still couldn't find Inuyasha.

'He must have run off really far, if we can't find him after so long.' Kagome bit her lip worriedly.

He is fine, for now. If you concentrate, you can sense his youkai.

Kuragari looked up at her, padding along at her side stealthily. Remember your lessons.

Kagome nodded, and concentrated.

She stopped walking and closed her eyes.

Her powers glowed blue around her as the others watched.

Her spiritual awareness increased, and she could sense everything in the cave.

Sango and Miroku, who were only humans, were orange in her 'sight', with the monk's holy powers casting a yellowish glow on him, while Shippou and Kirara, who were youkai, were mainly purple, with the fire cat's youki looking more reddish, because of her fire element.

She looked at Kuragari, who glowed a dark black in her vision. Then, Kagome could sense Inuyasha, who was just ahead of them. His youki was gray, with a golden tint to it.

This being the first time Kagome had tried this on her companions, she marveled at the colours of their auras and youki for a while.

Then, she concentrated on the corrupted youki and jyaki she could sense, from deep in the cave.

The brown youki of the crow Master was pulsing faintly, pleading for help, and the sickly greenish-yellow jyaki was controlling the youki.

The youki sent out a stronger pulse when it sensed Kagome's reiyouki, and she answered back with a pulse.

Feeling the reiyouki, the jyaki clamped down harder on its control of the youki.

Kagome frowned at this.

The jyaki seemed too powerful for it to be just an evil spirit.

The youki sent out a last pulse before crumpling, completely under the jyaki's control.

Kagome felt Testsusaiga send out a golden wave of power, and the narrow tunnel shook. She came out of her trance just in time to dodge a falling rock from the ceiling.

The others were ducking for cover under the raining rubble, and they ran deeper into the cave.

"Inuyasha just used the Kaze no Kizu right in front of us!" Kagome shouted desperately to the others as they dashed and avoided the flying debris.

"That baka! Is he trying to kill us all?" Sango shouted back to her as the rumbling in the cave grew louder.

They emerged into a large space, with Inuyasha and a giant crow in the center.

Tendrils of jyaki could be seen rolling off the crow, and Inuyasha was holding Testsusaiga down.

There were long gouges on either side of the crow, and it looked like the Kaze no Kizu had been blocked.

Without hesitation, Sango threw Hiraikotsu at the crow, which dodged.

The boomerang continued on its way and struck the cave wall, clattering to the floor with a thud. Having thrown her weapon away, Sango was helpless.

Kuragari passed Shippou to the surprised Miroku, and leapt in front of the crow. He stared into its beady black eyes, snarling, and roared.

GET OUT HERE!

Kagome's eyes widened when she heard the black tiger shout in her mind. He was usually calm, and she had never heard him shout before.

Shaking her head, she focused on the battle, and summoned her reiyouki. Her eyes turned white-blue, and she concentrated on the jyaki from the evil spirit.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha released another Kaze no Kizu at the evil spirit, who blocked it with a barrier made of stolen youki from the crow Master.

Kuragari glowed black, and charged the barrier. It broke under his powered charge, and the black tiger shot through the evil spirit like a blazing black comet.

The spirit dissipated, and reformed.

It cackled evilly, and formed another barrier around itself.

Both Inuyasha and Kuragari were bristling at the spirit from opposite sides of the cave, their eyes spelling certain death for the evil spirit should they ever get their claws into it.

Suddenly, a bright blue arrow streaked through the air and hit the barrier.

The barrier broke, and the arrow dropped away without even touching the spirit.

Everyone was dismayed at the miss, when another arrow crackling with power shot through the air and hit the evil spirit dead center.

Its face contorted into rage, and it faded away, releasing the crow Master. Everyone heaved a collective sigh of relief, and they turned to Kagome. It seemed like she kept surprising them lately.

The young miko was glowing with power, and her bow was still up. Slowly, the glow faded away, and Kagome lowered her bow.

She walked to the fallen crow, and knelt beside it.

Breaking out of their trance as they followed Kagome's movements, the rest gathered around her.

"He's... dead." Kagome announced with a trace of sadness in her voice.

Kuragari bent down and nuzzled the beak of the crow.

He straightened up, and roared in grief.

The others just lowered their heads and Miroku prayed for the crow's soul.

Inuyasha, sheathing his sword, predictably, just 'Feh'ed and looked away.

A dark flock of crows came, swooping in from the hole in the ceiling. They surrounded the body of the crow Master, and Kagome hastily got out of their way. They carried away the crow Master in a swarm of dark wings.

Black feathers drifted in the breeze created by their flapping wings, and created a peaceful atmosphere to those watching.


	5. Chapter 5

-----

Chapter 5

They had finally gotten out of the dark cave, and were greeted by sunlight and chirping.

They moved on towards the north in silence. They walked out of the forest, and then took to the skies on Kuragari and Kirara.

Kagome was clutching onto Shippou while riding on Kuragari.

Sango and Miroku were riding on Kirara, as always.

Inuyasha had refused to ride on Kuragari again, and was now running alongside them on the expanded dark path.

The silence stretched, and finally, Kagome couldn't take it anymore.

"Will somebody say something!" she shouted in frustration.

"Ah, hai, Kagome-sama?" Miroku raised an eyebrow at her.

"What is it, Kagome-chan?" Sango looked concerned for her friend.

"Oi, stop shouting, wench!" Inuyasha had covered his sensitive doggy ears, and was glaring at her. She glared back, and crossed her arms, giving up on having a conversation.

Mistress. Kuragari looked at her from the corner of his eyes, amused.

'What?' Kagome was sulking, and both she and Kuragari knew it. However, Kuragari wisely refrained from making any comment.

There is a scent of wolves in the air. Three wolf youkai and twelve wolves. You mentioned that you knew wolf youkai, are you familiar with these?

Using their mind link, he sent her an 'image' of the wolf youkai whose aura he could detect. The 'image' was created by Kuragari's senses, and refined by his reiyouki and aura detecting abilities.

When Kagome groaned, he knew for sure who the wolf youkai were. Kuragari imprinted the auras into his mind, so that he could recognize them next time.

"Guys, get ready!" Kagome called out to the rest. When they heard her, everyone tensed, and Inuyasha stopped and placed a hand on Tetsusaiga's hilt.

"What is it?"

"Kagome-chan, what's coming?"

"Kagome-sama."

Miroku's calm voice cut through the tension in the air, and the group relaxed a little.

"It's nothing, just... Kouga." Sighs followed her announcement, and Inuyasha bristled.

"No way that mangy wolf could be here! I woulda scented him by now!" He sniffed around the air, and let off a 'Keh!'. Inuyasha grumpily admitted, "He's coming closer.."

Right after he finished his sentence, a whirlwind appeared on the horizon and sped towards them. Kagome, Sango and Miroku watched with a bored expression as the whirlwind bowled over Inuyasha, leaving the hanyou in the dust with a few footprints on his head.

Kuragari watched with interest, as the whirlwind stopped and revealed a ruggedly handsome wolf youkai.

However, when Kouga tried to step closer to Kagome and declare his love for her, AGAIN, he found himself facing a large growling black tiger before Inuyasha could even get up.

"Eh? A kuro tora?" Kouga blinked in confusion. He scratched his head and tried to remember what he had been taught to do in these situations.

He stepped forward in front of Kuragari.

"I am Kouga, heir to the Northern lands." The ookami swept a graceful bow towards Kuragari. Everyone's jaw dropped. Who knew that Kouga was the heir to the Northern lands?

'Since when did he turn graceful ?' Kagome gaped.

I am Kuragari, kuro tora, and the Second of the Creatures of Light. Kuragari's mind voice was heard by everyone.

Jaws dropped even further. The Creatures of Light were the most powerful animals around. They were not youkai, but animal spirits who had trained and achieved greater power.

There were ten of them in total, and the higher their rank, the greater their power.

Since Kuragari was the Second Creature, he was the strongest, right after the First of the Creatures.

The Creatures were rarely seen, and only chose to appear when they were needed. The higher their position, the more rarely they were seen.

The First Creature had never been seen before, but all knew that it existed. The lowest positioned Creature was seen the most often, mostly during the greater wars between lands, and there were only ten recorded sightings of it so far.

The Creatures each had their own territory, and they usually stayed in their own. However, in times of great trouble, the Creatures moved freely between each other's territories.

Right now, they were in the territory of the Sixth Creature, the Akashika, Red Deer.

"Ehh...!"

Surprised shouts came from everyone, except Kagome. She had already known.

Miroku looked at Kuragari with more respect, and Sango stared at the kuro tora with disbelief.

They were all brought back to their senses when Kouga shouted again.

"Kagome, why don't you come back with me to my cave? My woman shouldn't be traveling all around the land with a mangy mutt like that!"

Seeing as he couldn't reach Kagome, since Kuragari was guarding her, he was shouting over Kuragari's head.

Everyone fell down laughing at the sight of them, and rolled on the floor in laughter.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha brandished the transformed Testsusaiga at the wolf.

"Oi, yasee ookami! Get away from Kagome! She's not your woman!"

AN: I am so sorry about this short chapter, but I was having difficulty continuing.


End file.
